Chinese New Year!

Once upon a time in China, there was a monster called "Nian".

Every year before the Chinese New Year, he will come into the village and destroyed the village, sometimes even taking the little children away with him. All the villagers were scared. Every year before the Chinese New Year, they would go into the caves to hide from the monster.

One day, an old man visited the village. He told the villagers that they should not be scared. "You are many and he is but one. Surely he could not swallow all of you." he said. He told the villagers that the monster was afraid of red colour and loud noises.

So that year, all the villagers worked together. They hung red decorations on the walls of every house. They bought new red clothes to wear. They played loud music on the streets. They played the drums. And when "Nian" appeared, they lit the fire crackers. "Bam! Bam! Bam!"

"Nian" was afraid of the loud sounds and red colour seen all over the village. He turned and ran away. Every year, the villagers wore red clothes and hung red decorations and played loud music and played fire crackers during Chinese New Year.

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This is just a simple story I told my two-year-olds. It was a multicultural lesson. They made ang pows (red packets), even putting coins inside, made Chinese New Year cards, made red lanterns, learnt Chinese New Year songs, played the drums as they sang, watched Lion Dance performances, made lion dance masks, made dragon puppets...And had lots of fun in the midst of learning!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Gong Xi Fa Chai!